Enterprise Ireland funding development of an AI voice companion for older people
Enterprise Ireland is funding the development of an AI voice companion for older adults, in order to stay independent at home.
Amethyst Care, founded by Rebecca McManus, are an Irish health technology company developing the companion, and has been awarded €100,000 in a Pre-Seed Start Fund from Enterprise Ireland.
The company is combining AI voice technology with health monitoring to help older people remain independent in their own homes for much longer. It will provide medication reminders, wellbeing check-ins and ongoing data collection.
This will help healthcare professionals to gain a more complete picture of the person's health and identify intervention points before a hospital visit becomes necessary.
On Amethyst Care’s website, they said: “When Rebecca was caring for both her parents, she realised that even if there were multiple options to structure and assist both caregivers and patients, when looking at their practicability, they weren't user-friendly and for patients with reduced mobility, it was almost impossible to use them.
“This stemmed from the fact that when looking at medication delivery, activity reporting, or event reminder input into the software, they couldn't perform it due to the lack of fine and gross motor skills. One of the biggest mobility-impacting diseases is Parkinson's Disease, which affects more than 10 million people worldwide, and is set to rise by a fifth in 2025.
“This is where Amethyst Care is revolutionising the field, as this solution uses voice technology to help care for people living with mobility-related illnesses, keeping them at home and making it easier to monitor and manage. It also allows for preventive measures to be put in place. It integrates Medication Reminders, evening pop-ups to quench loneliness and improve interactions, all while at the same time assessing the behavioural and cognitive state of the patient and reporting it to the carer via an integrated digital phenotyping process of passive data.”